The 1903 World Series

The first World Series was a best-of-nine series between the Boston Americans and the Pittsburg Pirates, with the first three games to be played in Boston starting at the Huntington Avenue Grounds on October 1, 1903. The series started with baseball’s winningest pitcher, Cy Young, throwing the first pitch, and ended with baseball’s greatest hitter, Honus Wagner, striking out on the last pitch. Boston won the series, five games to three.
Each game of the 1903 World Series and its key plays and players are thoroughly covered here, and the authors also pay special attention to the great significance that first World Series held for the future of baseball. Not only was the survival of the American League at stake, but baseball’s place as the preeminent sport in America. The 1903 World Series drew more than 100,000 people to the ballparks, and there was no doubt about the popularity of the game. It was, as the authors point out, played by men, who, had they not been baseball players, would have been among the working class that made up most of the audience.

Andy Dabilis is a journalist and lives in Charlestown, Massachusetts.
Nick Tsiotos is a teacher and lives in Winthrop, Massachusetts.

Andy Dabilis and Nick Tsiotos
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 228
Bibliographic Info: photos, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2004
pISBN: 978-0-7864-1840-4
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8327-3
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii

Introduction: An Invitation to Play      1

1. Today They Assault the Citadel      5

2. End of the Elysian Field      17

3. Barney Builds His Dynasty      30

4. Murnane’s Baseball      38

5. Play Them, But You Must Beat Them      47

6. An Awful Boom in the Ninth Inning      67

7. They Didn’t Do a Thing But Turn the City Upside Down      103

8. “Tessie”      141

9. Echoes of the Game      174

Conclusion: The Bronze Man      185

Appendix: 1903 World Series Statistics      189

Bibliography      201

Index      211

“terrific”—One More Inning.